


How Not to Fall in Love.

by sherloki369



Category: Saints Row
Genre: Boss Having Issues, Cuddling & Snuggling, F/M, Fem!Boss - Freeform, Matt Being Cute, Saints Row IV, Sleeping Together Without Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-13
Updated: 2014-06-17
Packaged: 2018-02-04 13:25:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,058
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1780699
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sherloki369/pseuds/sherloki369
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Boss and Matt are both having nightmares, will cuddling on the sofa fix it? Hopefully.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Beginning.

The boss woke up on the old sofa in the cargo bay; her jumpsuit was half off and tied around her waist. Lying on her chest was a computer hacker; Matt Miller was fast asleep with his face resting on the Bosses breasts. She ran her fingers through his hair; the little tugs on his hair woke Matt up. Trying to cling to sleep, he refused to open his eyes, burying his face into her chest more, leaving make-up marks on her breasts. The Boss kept playing with Matt's hair but didn't try to wake him up further. She started to think about the first time they had slept on the sofa together and the events which lead to them sharing this ratty old sofa.

Matt woke up screaming one night, it had been the nightmares again, he hadn't slept more then 3 hours at a time since getting on the ship. This time it had been the one were the Boss had died, her body had taken too much damage in the simulation, and her brain shut down. While the gang was busy grieving, the Zin attacked, next thing he knew he is holding the Bosses dead body while the ship is slowly loosing oxygen. The last thing Matt saw before blacking out and waking up was the Bosses bloodied face, she looked relaxed and content for the first time. He had to walk around the ship to try to clear his head, he found the boss drinking in the common room. 

'Boss shouldn't you be sleeping?, Matt asked as he sat down next to her.   
'Shouldn't you be doing the same?' the Boss fired back.   
'Nightmares' Matt muttered, he picked up a half full beer bottle from the floor and downed it, he grimaced.   
'Ah, well that's something we have in common. Luckily we still have beer so I can get some sleep', her light tone didn't match the serious subject matter of what she was saying. Matt kept looking at the floor, he wanted to ask her what was wrong, what has caused her to drink herself asleep every night, but he didn't. It wasn't his place to ask about her past, she’ll tell him if the Boss ever needs him.

The Boss realised that Matt was uncomfortable, 'Matt I've been doing this a lot longer then you. Seen more people die then you would believe, and you learn quickly not many people survive our life style (well previous life style). Those who survive are damaged, and the damage is so deep that it can't ever be fixed. Everyone on this ship has watched some die, it changes you, nightmares begin or get worse. Death changes your view on life, you realise how fragile everything is and how easily it can be destroyed. Friends and loved ones die in your arms, but you keep going because giving up means giving up on their memory too.'   
Matt lent his head on her shoulder, his fingers interlocked with hers. She squeezed his hand, letting him know she would be there for him, the Boss had worried about Matt ever since he'd been helping them Matt always seemed so young to her, he had a baby face or maybe she couldn't forget that 16 year old gang leader that had tried to kill her. That young boy who wasn't much different to herself, he had escaped from this life once, only to dragged back by her. He squeezed back, wiping away her tears, Boss hadn't noticed she had been crying. 

They moved to the deck, they stood holding hands staring out at the vastness of space before them, trying to work out where their little planet had been. They lent against each other, both seeking comfort from the crushing weight of their task, 'I'm not sure what I'm missing most about home, there isn't one specific thing I think it might be the whole system working together that I miss,' Matt was thinking out loud, something the Boss had noticed in their time on the ship.  
'Surprised you didn't say the internet,' she joked.   
A small smile graced Matt's face, 'we should get some sleep, big day tomorrow,' Matt announced. Boss pulled him to the cargo bay, they both led down on the sofa. Matt wrapped his arms around the boss, and she buried her head in his chest, they both fell asleep to the sound of each other's heartbeats.


	2. The Middle

In the morning Matt woke up with a blanket covering his thin body, Boss was no where to be seen. He sighed, it had been the first time since he had got on the ship that Matt hadn't had nightmares, and the Boss didn't even stay with him until he woke up. He slowly picked himself up off the sofa, he straighten his jumpsuit, and hair, in that way people sometimes do to try mask their emotional pain. Matt picked up the blanket, neatly folded it, and placed it at one end of the ratty old sofa. He slowly made his way up to the simulation room, he ignored the rest of the crew and sat down at his computer. He felt abandoned, he had let himself open up to the Boss, and she couldn't even be bothered to stay with him. He shouldn't be shocked really, she had a reputation to keep up, she couldn't show any weakness. He ran his fingers through his hair, tugging his hair to wake himself up more. Matt logged onto the system to check where the Boss was in the simulation, she was sat on a roof top drinking rum straight from the bottle, even from the disant camera, he could tell she was upset about something. She seemed to be singing an old rock song, lyrics only half remembered, rhythm imprinted in her memory, she toasted a long dead friend and threw the bottle off the roof.

Gat came up behind Matt, 'looking out for the Boss?' he asked, Matt jumped out of his chair.   
'Y-yes, no! I was-wasn't spying on the Boss,' Matt started rambling out an apology.   
'Don't worry kid, we're all worried about her. She has been in control of us idiots for years, watching us die, it fucks you up a bit' Gat lowered his shades, getting at good look at Matt's reaction, he replaced his shades and walked off, 'if you can handle it, try to help her, she needs someone like you.' Gat's empathy and caring attitude scared Matt, if he failed Gat would have his head. If he didn't try he would loose the woman he may just be developing feelings for.

The Boss was still sat atop of the skyscraper, her bottle of rum long gone over the edge of the building. She stared up at alien ship hovering above the city, 'damn that fucking thing is ugly', she thought out loud. It was the anniversary of the day she joined the saints, years had past but every year on the same day she toasted her lost friends. It never stopped hurting, but the rum still running through her system numbed it slightly. She sang a song she could barely remember, it had been playing background in the early days. She had come a long way from a skinny little teenager to the president of america, the one thing she hadn't done in all her years was find someone who loved her.  
She knew at least one of computer geeks would be watching her, it gave her some comfort that one of her friends was watching and looking out for her in here. She then remembered why, she was the leader of the saints and president of america, they needed a leader. Only a few of them were her friends, the rest were survivors that she was looking after. She was the leader because she was ruthless, and confident. Now her whole idea of herself was crumbling because a skinny, bratty, little shit of a computer hacker.   
'Hey Boss!', sleeping on that sofa had made her realise that maybe falling for someone would be good for her, or maybe it would destroy her from the inside out.   
'Yo Boss, you awake?', Pierce kicked her foot.   
He sat down next to her, and gave her a new bottle of rum, 'I thought you could do with some more of this.'   
The Boss grabbed the bottle, removed the cap and drank a quarter of it before Pierce could react. Pierce pulled out an old photo from his jacket, it was the crew back in Stilwater, the photo had been folded and unfolded so many times the creases had become thick white lines across it.   
'Remember those days, when the biggest thing we had to worry about was rival gangs?', Pierce grabbed the rum bottle from the Boss, and took a huge mouth full.   
'Yeah, everything went tits up when Johnny died. Shaundi became a revenge driven psycho, who is crazier then I am, that day screwed us all up.' The Boss was softly spoken, she strokes the old photo it had been taken years ago outside their favourite bar.   
'Pierce, we've been through a lot, hell all of us have, and I feel like it's my fault. So many of us have died and I couldn't save them. And now I'm scared that what's left of humanity is going to die because of fuck-up that I made.' She choked back a sob, and took the bottle back from Pierce.  
'Boss are you worried about something else? You've never been this worried about fuck-ups before.', Pierce asked, laying a hand on her shoulder.   
'I think I'm in love.'


	3. The End

Her words echoed around Pierce’s head, the Boss in love? She was still staring at the old photo; Pierce had kept it all these years just for an event like this, when she needed a real reminder of the past. Of course she would have a rude awakening on this day, her anniversary. It was the same day she decided to become president, all her major life decisions were made on this day, Pierce was sure that something happened before her joining the Saints made her choose this day. However the Boss had secrets, and trying to find them out could get you killed, Pierce didn't risk it.  
‘You know Boss this kind of thing can’t be stopped, hiding it won’t help you or whoever you've fallen for.’ Pierce’s kindly tone was something she hadn't expected, laughter was what she expected. Actual advice certainly wasn't she was waiting for in those few milliseconds of silence, she turned toward Pierce, he was staring off into the almost set sun. He had the same look on his face all people who have lost someone they love do, some were between heartbreak and longing.   
‘I should tell him, for all I know he could be listening in right now,’ a small smile graced her face as she thought about him and love of the technology on the ship.   
‘Before you do go tell him, talk to Shaundi. She might have a good idea or two on how to face this like the badass you are, because I know you are scared shitless,’ Pierce placed both his hands on either side of the Boss’s face.   
‘Go show him that the leader of the Saints, that the president of America isn't scared of human emotions, show him that you are as fearless in love as you are in battle.’ Pierce pressed his forehead against hers, ‘you getting better than me at motivational speeches,’ the Boss replied with a chuckle. 

Pierce left the simulation, as the Boss called Shaundi, ‘Hey Boss what do you need?’ The Boss took a deep breath and explained everything.   
‘I’ll be right there,’ the Boss moved to The Broken Shillelagh, where she had asked Shaundi to meet her. She ordered the weakest beer they had, if she got any drunker she wouldn't be able to talk.  
‘So you love Matt then,’ Shaundi sated the fact as she walked in.   
‘Most people start with hello,’ The Boss had hardly touched the beer, Shaundi took it from her and downed it.   
‘One thing I love about this simulation, booze still gets you drunk,’ Shaundi made her point by slamming the bottle down on the table. Shaundi had a plan, this was the kind of thing Shaundi was good (besides revenge), but it would involve being nice to certain people and owing other people big time.

12 hours later everything was set up; she had played nice to bribe Kinzie, and currently owed both Shaundi and Pierce a six pack of beers each and a free punch in the face next time she did something stupid. That little shit best appreciate everything she was doing for him. During this whole time Asha and Johnny had been keeping Matt busy with running training programs for them, the Boss didn't even have to ask them, they already knew from the look on her face.   
Johnny gave her a hug, ‘don’t screw this up, I like that kid and throwing him out the air-lock would ruin my day.’ Asha didn't say anything, but gave the same look the Boss had given anytime Shaundi had brought a new guy home, that ‘break their heart and I’ll kill you with a rusty fork’ look. 

Once Johnny and Asha finally let Matt go he was going to go back to his sofa and be miserable for a few hours.   
Only when he tried to leave his computer did Shaundi stop him, ‘Matt the Boss wants to meet you in the simulation.’   
Shaundi scared Matt a little so he blindly obeyed her orders, no matter how much sleep he wanted. Kinzie put him into a simulation he hadn't seen before, it was his old reactor base before the saints took over. His heart was tugged at the pangs of nostalgia, why would the Boss want to meet him here? He walked around his old crib for a while, enjoying his memories and missing his crew. All at once some soft back ground music came on over the sound system; it was out of place with the cyber theme of the room.   
‘God damn it Kinzie this isn't the music I picked’, shouted the Boss from the other side of the room. She was too busy shouting and swearing at the roof to realise that Matt had walked over to her, ‘Kinzie isn't listening in anymore, she turned on the music and left.’   
The Boss hearing Matt’s soft voice so close made her jump, ‘Holy fuck Matt don’t scare me like that.’   
Matt laughed a little, but soon stopped when he realised that the Boss was nervous, she was never nervous.   
‘Boss what’s wrong, I've never seen you look like this, you worried about something. What’s wrong?!?’, Matt started to panic, she grabbed him by the back of his neck and pulled him close. She kissed him deeply, throwing every emotion she had into that kiss, ‘that’s what’s wrong you little shit,’ he hadn't kiss back.   
She let go of him and she slumped to the floor, she had been scared shitless this would happen. She started building her walls again, those huge walls that had surrounded her heart for years had been knocked down by this kid, and now she had to rebuild.

‘For the president of America you sure are an idiot’, Matt slid down the wall next to her.   
She was shocked, Matt hadn't been that blunt with her since she almost caved his face in, ‘What the hell does that mean?’, she screamed in his face.   
Before he could react she was knelt across his lap, one hand was wrapped around his tie, the other first ready to strike.   
‘If I didn't feel the same I wouldn't have let you fall asleep in my arms in the first place,’ Matt let out a whimper but carried on, ‘you caught me off guard that’s all I thought you were going to kill me for doing a bad job.’   
Her fists loosen, her back slumped, and she rested her head on Matt’s shoulder, ‘This was meant to be a grand show of love and I fucked up.’   
Matt pulled her head from his shoulder and looked her right in the eyes, ‘You may have ruined the plan but I still love you anyway.’   
The Boss kissed Matt again and this time he kissed back.


	4. The Epilogue

While she had been reminiscing about their badly planned attempt to fall in love, Matt had woken up. The Boss only realised when he started to trace the tattoo across her chest, 'Morning Boss.'   
She smiled brightly and kissed his nose, 'do you always disappear inside your head if I don't wake up at the same time as you?' The Boss didn't say anything but wrapped her arms around his thin body, and wrapped her fingers in his hair.  
'I was just thinking about how badly we screwed up the whole falling in love thing,' she smiled at the memory. It had been six months since that fateful day and she had never been happier, she had her crew, a sweet little thing to love, and to be loved by, plus ruling an empire was a bonus.  
Matt started laughing, he pulled out a small pendrive, 'I saved the simulation, in case we ever wanted to relive and maybe improve on the last time.' 

Once they were safely inside their simulation with none of the crew watching, Matt turned on the music. It was the same shitty romantic song that Kinzie had put on the first time around, the Boss started laughing. Matt had changed their outfits, their normal clothes replaced with much fancier clothes. Matt had put himself in a black pinstripe suit with purple shirt, and the Boss was wearing a neon blue form-fitting dress.  
'Nice taste in colours, shame we don't have these in the real world,' Matt held his hand out to her, 'would you like to dance?'   
The Boss blushed, 'I don't know how to, not like this anyway.' Matt showed her what to do, the Boss may have stood on his feet a few times but she was a natural. They danced for hours, their feet hurt but they were happy and that was all that mattered.


End file.
